Habitat Use and Activity Patterns of a Terrestrial Turtle (Rhinoclemmys rubida perixantha) in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest

Document Type

Article

Department or Administrative Unit

Biological Sciences

Publication Date

9-2018

Abstract

We report the results of a field study on Mexican Spotted Wood Turtles (Rhinoclemmys rubida perixantha) in a seasonally dry tropical forest of coastal Jalisco, Mexico. We used field surveys, trail spools, and radio telemetry to investigate activity patterns, estimate home range size with three different techniques, and develop a generalized linear model to identify features associated with habitats used by R. r. perixantha. We found that turtles were most frequently active at midday, with peak activity occurring from 0900 to 1500 h. During the dry season (January–mid-June), R. r. perixantha showed reduced activity (fewer movements and shorter travel distances) compared to the wet season (late June–September). Home range size did not differ among the three methods we compared, and all estimates revealed that R. r. perixantha have small home ranges, with males having larger home ranges than females. Sites used by turtles were positively associated with leaf litter and woody debris, herbaceous plants, vegetation, vine-like shrubs, and sloped terrain, and negatively associated with bare ground. Our findings can be used to strengthen future conservation efforts for R. r. perixantha, as well as other terrestrial geoemydids.

Comments

This article was originally published in Herpetologica. The full text link on this page is to an accepted manuscript version of this article hosted by the National Science Foundation Public Access Repository and may not be the final version of this article. The version of record from the publisher can be found here.

Journal

Herpetologica

Rights

© 2018 by The Herpetologists' League, Inc.

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